A little over a year ago I made an attempt to make Pavlova. That’s after I’d tried it in it’s birth place – Australia. It’s amazing how pavlova tastes nice EVERYWHERE you have it in Australia. Lamingtons, not such a big fan of, or haven’t really had good ones just yet.
So coming back to my story which always has at least one disaster element which involves my husband <3. My cousins parents and an Uncle of mine were visiting and I wanted to have them over for dinner, cook a meal present a fabulously gorgeous looking Pavlova which I pictured in my head, and have relaxing evening bonding with family.
The day started off fine, I got up super early to make the Pavlova, after reading all the instructions of letting it cool naturally in the oven, deflating time and must factor in at least 12 hours I thought it might be best to make this ASAP and get it out of the way. It turned out beautifully, I left it in the oven, dropped my daughter off at school and went to work. In the evening, I came back, popped into the kitchen to look at my creation, dared to open the oven and it was sitting majestically waiting to be decorated. It was such a proud moment for me. I showed it off to my husband, did a little dance by myself popped it back in the oven to be safe and went to get my kids ready for bed while my husband took over the kitchen to bake some chicken.
I was having a lovely moment with my daughters and their bed time when my husband walked into the room apologizing profusely. So, I figured something went wrong with the chicken and dinner is screwed. BUT….the chicken was far from the issue. He pre-heated the oven for his chicken WITH MY PAVOLVA INSIDE!!!
OMIGOD, what a disaster that was, I wanted to cry, I had spent all morning making this beauty and now I had no dessert to serve. I made an attempt to salvage it and see if I could cover the burns with cream but it was just not going to happen.
So here I am. It took me a little over a year to get over it and try it again and I have to say it turned out even better than before. It was so perfectly marshmallow-y inside even I was amazed. Also, it’s super light, just like a Pavlova should be 🙂 It did turn out a little darker than I would have wanted but I was trying to avoid the completely white look. If you want it white, you can cover it with a foil while baking and it’ll still be fine.
Ingredients:
6 eggs separated
1 TBSP cornflour
3/4 tsp vinegar
1 C sugar
200 ml cream
1 tbsp icing sugar
Directions:
- Pre-heat oven to 120C and line with wax paper
- Take a sheet of wax paper as big as the sheet tray you will use and draw a 24cm diameter circle on it, place it on the tray with the ink side down
- Separate the eggs, whites and yolks and whisk the whites until they form soft peaks but not stiff yet
- Add sugar 1 tbsp at a time once the peaks have formed and whisk until it starts to look glossy and you the sugar has dissolved ( you’ll be able to tell by feeling the meringue between your fingers)
- Add cornflour, vanilla and vinegar and whisk till combined
- Place the meringue on the tray around within the circle and spread out and create a crater in the middle where you will add the cream and fruits
- Pop into oven and bake for 90mins or until pavlova is dry on the outside
- Do not open the door during the baking time or the cooling time at any given point, let it cool naturally within the oven, about 12 hours
- When out of the oven and ready to be served, remove from tray and whisk some whipped cream until firm and top on top of the pavlova. Add sliced fruits of the season, preferably tangy fruits, gives a nice kick to the whole mix. Serve at room temperature or cold.
